WATCH: SpaceX catches Starship rocket booster back at the launch pad

The 400ft rocket blasted off at sunrise, completing its fight, and separated its first stage booster, which was caught back on the pad to applause from the team. Read more here: apne.ws/BBPUIPL
#spacex #starship #space
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[@dewayneblue1834]

Starship is absolutely gargantuan, and by far the most powerful rocket ever built. The fact that its huge, 240 foot tall first stage, can be gently caught for re-use, has mind-boggling implications for the economics of space flight.

[@SteveJohnson-p5c]

i would be shocked if the engines are re-usable after that. The bottom of the rocket nearly melted itself apart

[@dewayneblue1834]

@@SteveJohnson-p5c Not much of an issue. Much of that burning is residual fuel, not the actual engine.They had a similar situation with engines on early Falcon9 flights, now they can handle 20+ flights. And the uprated Raptor v.3.0 engines are just beginning to enter production.

[@atlesifeyst2185]

​@SteveJohnson-p5c the falcon 9 engines get just as hot, glowing as well. They are designed to handle 4 figure heat temps.

[@falxonPSN]

@@SteveJohnson-p5c it's a shame they are not designed to handle heat. Oh, wait.

[@phillip_mcguinness7025]

@@SteveJohnson-p5c These are the new v3's, they are 3D printed with all the sensitive tubing INSIDE the engine. They are robust AF.

[@recifebra3]

One of the biggest accomplishments ever achieved by any other humans! Congrats SpaceX!!!

[@J.B24]

All this rocket technology is great but we're light years away from any other star. I mean, its nice and all but not sure how its going to help us get to alpha centari.

[@xinniethep00h]

⁠​⁠@@J.B24 it’s not going to. This is meant for habitats on the moon or mars. Humans will not be venturing outside of our solar system until some major breakthroughs happen in multiple fields. Visiting Alpha Centauri is not a feasible or realistic goal atm

[@douglaswilkinson5700]

It is amazing! However, the Eagle's successful landing on our Moon *55 years ago* is the most amazing accomplishment.

[@someuser7501]

Wait..it worked? I thought the internet said Elon Musk is just a con man.. Now we can build a 2001 Space Odyssey wheeled shaped space station. Yikes!

[@xsi1verxbulletxno.288]

​@J.B24 bro what are you talking about? AC is nearly 5 light years away. it would take voyager thousands of years to get that far. it took decades just to get out of the solar system. we aren't reaching another star unless some form of faster than light travel is developed, which might never happen and probably won't happen in our lifetimes if it does at all.

[@Alexander_Evans]

Our destiny is in the stars. Congratulations SpaceX team!

[@Marcus.22823]

Planet🌍

[@cube2fox]

It's called star ship, but the stars are too far away :(

[@yurisoares2596]

@@cube2fox But now is much closer.

[@drivers99]

It’s too hot inside a star

[@squirtle88]

@@drivers99 ikr i would be sweating bullets lol

[@wilsonsall]

Wow! In my lifetime. I never would have thought anything like this was even possible.

[@GreatMewtwo]

It still gets to me that SpaceX almost didn't make it beyond 2006. It strangely goes to show that great ideas die from lack of belief and investment.

[@gregcullen8744]

What an inspiration for the world. Persevering and doing what appears to be impossible. Thank you SpaceX.

[@spaminacan100]

The tech and the minds required to make this a REALITY. Just awesome. 👍👍👍🔥🔥🔥

[@jackdavis8701]

ELON

[@excessivelysalty_81]

@@jackdavis8701 More like all the engineers that are standing and cheering.

[@phillip_mcguinness7025]

@@jackdavis8701 Elon's genius is in realizing the value of the company is his people.

[@mycroft16]

The tech has been mostly around since the 60s. What lacked was modern avionics systems. The precision control of the rocket and the comm link between the tower and rocket directly to self coordinate this. Other than those two things it's all just math and mechanical equipment.

[@Schwing27]

This completely blew my mind seeing this

[@SEBTECHDIY]

Its not mechanical arm, it's MECHAZILLA!!

[@pixelwash9707]

Another term SpaceX use to describe them are "chopsticks". Very BIG chopsticks.

[@zzappligator]

People don't even do this with model rockets let alone the largest flying thing ever.

[@paulm9500]

Wow SpaceX - This is incredible and what a genius idea

[@slimtz2758]

This is more than being caught by Mechazilla's arms. It gently positioned itself and rested in the mighty welcoming arms of the solemn sentinel.

[@mycroft16]

They did exactly what Falcon 9 does. Slow itself to 0 vertical velocity at the moment of touchdown. This just did it in the air at the moment it touches the tower arms. Its actually not a difficult thing to calculate. It's just rapid and precise measurements of altitude and velocity and then engine throttle adjustments. The trick is the avionics to position accurately and the tower communicating with the ship to time the arm close properly.

[@sangmoon2464]

One of the major things this means is that reusable large payload launches become exponentially cheaper making colonizing the Moon and Mars so much cheaper and likely to happen within our lifetime. We are going to see Starship used for all kinds of ideas that were considered too expensive before like a hotel in space or a true rotating ring shaped space station with its own pseudo gravity. We are going to see mining in space bringing more riches than the entire planet Earth has now. We may have just witnessed the beginning of the explosion of the human race into the universe.

[@tomato-v8x]

If you think people are going to colonize the moon or mars, particularly mars, you can keep on dreaming.

[@Nuke-MarsX]

@@tomato-v8x exactly the same thing people said about superheavy, saying it will never land on the arms

[@stevemattson4863]

More human garbage to be found.

[@kennetha6594]

@@tomato-v8x cope harder!

[@md.mohaiminulislam9618]

@@tomato-v8x humans will colonize the galaxy if it can

[@drdrew316]

“We’re losing our stuff up here” lolol

[@herbyraphael6774]

Wow, wow what a accomplishment done by SpaceX congrats

[@DS-lk3tx]

A YEAR AGO YOU ALL WERE LAUGHING AT STARSHIP. NOW WHAT? 😂😂😂

[@glennchartrand5411]

150 metric tons of payload into orbit with a fully reusable ship. A fully loaded American Semi Tractor-Trailer can haul about 20 metric tons.

[@Oxibase]

Imagine the sorts of space stations that could be assembled in orbit with this capability.

[@stussy8936]

Robots would be perfect for space. Coincidence?

[@RU12DV8]

To build our habitat ​@@stussy8936

[@mycroft16]

Don't forget they plan to stretch ship to 200 mT to LEO.

[@BockwinkleB]

Simply amazing. See what can be accomplished when dei and esg are not barriers to innovation.

[@israellopez7412]

It blows your mind when you get wake up by the noise and vibrations

[@hildilrs]

Where was this launch at?

[@breeze510]

Absolutely insane!

[@frankm7707]

This is how you hold an eggroll with a pair of chopsticks.

[@user-ob3gi5do1i]

No, this is how you catch a fly in mid-air with chopsticks.

[@charlesolarte7104]

@@user-ob3gi5do1i Im confused. Isnt the hard part supposed to be the directing of the flight of the booster back to the platform, and the "easy" part the catching by the arms? If the booster was out of control and the platform was mobile enough to catch it, then yea, its like catching a fly with chopsticks. But isnt this more liek catching a remote controlled fly drone (the controlling is the hard part) with a thimble (the easy part)? TIA

[@Juliawatiwang]

Speechless……I’m amazed beyond words.

[@FRgsxr1000]

Unbelievable SpaceX!!!!! Wow. All I can say is WOW!!

[@berniepascual4094]

And i thought Elon was crazy when he said that they plan to catch the booster with a mechanical arm. In my mind was like, wow! i can't wait for all the things it could go wrong and watch all the fireworks as it explodes. I already thought Elon is a genius but boy, was i still wrong about Elon.

[@dad_uchiha1707]

This was absolutely astonishing! Well done spaceX

[@MasterMold72]

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has made significant strides in space exploration and has achieved remarkable milestones in a relatively short period. The company's ambitious goal of enabling human colonization of other planets has captured the imagination of people around the world. Their progress in developing reusable rocket technology and successful launches has propelled them to the forefront of the space industry. With each successful mission, SpaceX is bringing humanity one step closer to the realization of interplanetary travel and the exploration of what lies beyond Earth.

[@thewolfking5252]

Big Congrats to Space X team and Elon. Constantly making science fiction into Reality. It’s an exciting time.

[@fredstevens129]

wow! an actual true story from the AP!!

[@WyoSavage1976]

Not the ending they wanted I am betting😂😂😂😂

[@elmonty79beta]

Silly rabbit, AP happens to be one of the least biased news wires out there. They report on hard news and then news outlets buy their reporting and investigate further or make opinion commentary on it if they choose to.

[@wilsonsall]

@@elmonty79beta AP is very biased. Wake up man.

[@elmonty79beta]

@@wilsonsall What news org should I follow?

[@Wurtoz9643]

@@elmonty79betaall at the same time and it should average out

[@XRaiderV1]

holy..the crazy genius actually did it...

[@mylesdeportado2004]

This is incredible! Truly this is the kind of thing you saw in comic books!

[@nskreviews923]

This is unbelievable , congrats SpaceX team !!

[@JAUNTYJAKE]

Absolutely amazing! I kinda find it humorous seeing the crowd react like they just saw a game winning touchdown. But at the same time I don’t blame them. Well done indeed

[@TheBossEntrepreneur]

This is so beautiful, the excitement in the people cheering made cry tears of joy!

[@jarichards99utube]

THERE Are TWO MAIN REASONS why STARSHIP made History Today: 1- The STARSHIP Program IS Managed by Elon Musk & SpaceX... 👍👍 and, 2- The STARSHIP Program - NOT -Managed by Boeing 😆😅😂 🤣🤣🤣

[@fahadnoor4680]

Phenomenal😮

[@danabe3220]

Incredible accomplishment!

[@Tasty_Radd]

that's pretty f*ckin cool

[@BennysLab-Works]

The sickest thing I've ever seen! Congrats to everyone involved.

[@Wingersgliders]

"When You're Hot, You're Hot"!

[@ricksal9012]

This is a slap to the face of NASA. They should close their doors and join SpaceX.

[@sarkaranish]

NASA does incredible stuff too. They just don't make rockets but their satellites are incredible.

[@fasolatedoe]

What are you? A twelve year old? Take your meds.

[@PodofGold]

NASA has probes flying long before you were born and will still be transmitting long after you are nothing but dust. NASA has rovers running around other plants for years beyond their intended build range. NASA has given us views into the cosmos that are unrivaled by any other organization. Give NASA credit where credit is due. It isn’t a rocket manufacturer after all.

[@adrichapoy6525]

Awesome

[@PaulPaullus]

...that was too2TOO AWESOME !!!!!

[@MrLorenzovanmatterho]

FINALLY the future they promised us has arrived!

[@Jai-Bharat111]

Spectacular. Well done.

[@jjames9341]

Beyond incredible job SpaceX Team!!!!

[@bimpena8164]

Well done Spacex!❤... you have made history again!...greetings ftom 🇵🇭❤️

[@hardstylerawstylelover8110]

Amazing SpaceX 👏

[@westloves]

i feel like i wouldnt be able to fall asleep with this, I cant even fall asleep with a dental mouth guard.

[@teresabenson3385]

This is absolutely insane.

[@jeffengland2791]

Incredible.

[@cooldude-bronst]

China will steal it and copy cat, but all china rocket will exploade like a fireworks 😂😂😂

[@TheKianykin]

don't worry, the village the chinese version of it falls on will break its fall

[@badmoon5249]

And the Apollo deniers will claim it never happened.

[@nataliamalikova8700]

Magnifique.... i have tears in my yeys

[@unfundedopportunities7278]

von Braun would be proud. Armstrong, not so much.

[@Linkwii64]

This is how you inspire a new generation of Astronaut and space engineers. Way to go Elon Musk.

[@tonycap49]

That’s freaking incredible!

[@stickii2131]

That is insane!!

[@ReverendSnedley]

Astonishing !

[@ancientmariner1344]

Please give this guy special Nobel Prize. Sheer genius coupled with grit n guts. Last millennium belonged to Da vinchi . This one to Elon Musk. Cheers

[@user-zb7tg5hi3t]

Mind blowing! Great job spacex!

[@jayshu3511]

the bad news is the booster cannot be reused unless the structure is repaired

[@bomfirit75]

If this continues, we'll soon get a visit from the Vulcans.

[@JhitClaps]

this is amazing

[@jackyleecs]

Absolutely amazing. Absolutely.

[@العلمللجميع-ح1ف]

A day in human history thankyou Elon Mask ❤❤❤ and Space X engineers

[@davidwatt3843]

Now they need a tower and arms setup on mars and the moon to do the same thing.

[@michael47359]

That is amazing

[@PeterTschappler]

Utter madlads

[@ksrmk]

Try that NASA, Boeing.

[@TheChiz18]

And so it begins...

[@Tanvirzuberi]

It's an amazing feet of Engineering

[@cD-vg5go]

asa ^ 63 year old grew up around cape Canaveral and watched a couple launches... THAT WAS The most Amazing thing I have ever seen xcept the LaBruja de Monterrey from less than a 1000 ft away.. I Know what it LOOKS like. yep middle of a nice day around 200 ft off the ground.. silent and slow

[@pineapple_productions]

it worked it worked

[@ammertos1517]

unbelievable

[@bharthyadav6794]

Who's gonna build this launch pad catcher thing in the mars ?

[@RU12DV8]

Tesla robot

[@Naglfar]

Absolutley incredible, fantastic job SpaceX. I love it.

[@SoulDaddy33]

And some days I can't even parallel park!

[@Dhananjuly]

Yeah... Science ❤❤

[@josephma9332]

Spectacular and incredible ,awesome 👏

[@chronokoks]

it was close! the horizontal speed was very big

[@jonathanphillips3060]

Thanks to Elon Musk, humanity and our civilization will become multi-planetary. This is a 'Quantum leap' in terms of space engineering.

[@nuke]

We are living in the future.

[@zenithproject817]

I can sleep to booster noise 🫡

[@Gregoman89]

A guy builds a team who catches a rocket. Same guy buys Twitter, blobs sitting on a coach: oh it’s over for twitter 😂

[@CharlesNewY0rk]

Incredible!

[@jviews1]

INCREDIBLE!!!

[@anthonyj5298]

Merica!

[@williammorris584]

Fired the content moderators and hired engineers.

[@JohnnyYost-t1b]

no epic fail, thank goodness, congrats and emojis of compliment and praise and etc. so apply just have to run.........awesome and back later :)...............

[@trivagravia4837]

Show this video to Keith Albermann whatever his name is

[@andrewferguson4713]

Wow

[@mdmarko]

Elon Musk gets it done while NASA worries about DEI.

[@Вивсівідстій]

Amazing achievement. Let’s see if Russia or China can duplicate this without causing a disaster. 🇺🇸

[@shanelittle1025]

They will send in people to steal.

[@chuck7299]

China is in the early stages. They'll get there. Russia is too busy invading sovereign countries and losing 1 million soldiers to be bothered.

[@christellepuyraud6256]

congrats !

[@rasalghul3963]

What did I just witness? wow

[@Dandan-le1qt]

Awesome!!

[@-johnny-deep-]

So, is landing on it's own like a Falcon Heavy booster not possible? Why are they having to "catch" it instead?

[@chuck7299]

"The best part is no part." ~Elon Why bring the mass of the landing legs with you when you don't have to? More payload and less fuel consumption with less mass.

[@krashd]

This is Starship, those rockets that landed on their feet were Falcon, Starship is about 10x bigger and heavier than Falcon and would break any feet it tried to land on. That thing that just got grabbed out of the air is 30 feet in diameter and 240 feet high, it's the size of a small skyscraper and you could fit the statue of liberty inside it.

[@rpnum1]

Woah.

[@zkejauraflow7338]

It seems to me that Elon Musk's engineering team might be a group of aliens.

[@flyingfishsurf]

Using flames for propulsion seems so Buck Rogers. No self-respecting alien would use such antiquated technology.

[@jeffderice753]

NASA - "Well than"........